The Finest of the Wheat ‎#120

120. Papa, fot would you take for me?

1 She was ready for sleep, and she lay on my arm,
In her little frilled cap so fine,
With her golden hair falling out at the edge,
Like a circle of noon sunshine;
And I hum’d the old tune of “Banbury Cross,”
And “Three men who put out to sea,”
When she sleepily said, as she closed her blue eyes,
“Papa, fot would you take for me?”

Refrain:
So I rocked my baby, and rocked away,
She was sleepy and weary with play,
But I held her warm in my love-strong arms,
And I rocked her and rocked away,
And I rocked her and rocked away,
And I humm’d and humm’d and humm’d away,
How much, oh, how much would it be?
When she sleepily said, as she closed her blue eyes,
“Papa, fot would you take for me?”

2 And I answer’d “a dollar,” dear little heart,
And she slept, baby, weary with play,
But I held her warm in my love-strong arms,
And I rocked her, and rocked away;
Oh, the dollar meant all the world to me,
The land, and the sea, and the sky,
The lowest depths of the lowest place,
The highest of all that’s high. [Refrain]

3 All the cities, with streets and palaces,
With their pictures and stores of art,
I would not take for one low soft throb,
Of my little one’s loving heart;
Nor all the gold that was ever found,
In the busy, wealth-finding past.
Would I take for one smile of my darling’s face,
Did I know it must be the last. [Refrain]

4 So I rocked my baby, and rocked away,
And I felt such a sweet content,
For the words of the song express’d more to me,
Than they ever before had meant;
And the night crept on, and I slept and dream’d
Of things far too gladsome to be,
And I wakened with lips saying close to my ear,
“Papa, fot would you take for me?” [Refrain]

Text Information

• First Line: She was ready for sleep
• Title: Papa, fot would you take for me?
• Refrain First Line: So I rocked my baby
• Publication Date: 1890

Tune Information

• Name: [She was ready for sleep]
• Composer: J. M. Whyte